


We Stand Together (Or We Fall Alone)

by MalecAcid



Category: Divergent - All Media Types, The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Abnegation Faction, Also they are all 18, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Divergent Fusion, Amity Faction, Angst, Candor Faction, Dauntless Faction, Divergent AU, Erudite Faction, Gen, Heavy Angst, Listen this is my first chaptered fic, No Incest, Original Characters - Freeform, and we trying our best here, but i made them 18 bc yeah, but im gonna tag it anyways, but that honestly might change, i know that the age for choosing and stuff is 16, so right now theres no major character death, there are very few original characters, we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:00:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24334015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalecAcid/pseuds/MalecAcid
Summary: These seven children, a family, but not really. How can a family exist in a world where families were being constantly torn apart by factions? Factions that were meant to keep the peace, meant to prevent war. But what was that worth, in the end, when you had nothing to fight for? No one to fight with?~^~Or the Divergent au no one asked for but I made
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Dave/Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Eudora Patch, Diego Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Luther Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy), The Hargreeves Family, Vanya Hargreeves & The Hargreeves
Comments: 56
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So we're doing a lot of firsts here, first long fic, first au, first tua fic. Let's see how it goes?
> 
> Also!!! Slight trigger warning for talk of drugs, usual Klaus things, you know.

On the twelfth hour of the first day of October, 1989, 43 women gave birth unusually in a world ruled by five factions. 

These five factions were Abnegation, the selfless. Amity, the kind. Erudite, the intelligent. Candor, the honest. And Dauntless, the brave. The factions were made to keep the peace in a post-war world. Meant to prevent more war. 

These births were abnormal in every way, as none of the mothers were pregnant before the day had started. 

Seven of these children were adopted by the Erudite faction leader and billionaire Reginald Hargreeves. Or more so, they were bought. The parents "Suitably compensated," as Reginald would say, the only man in their small world influential enough to get away with the act. 

The seven children, Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five, Ben and Vanya all lived under Reginalds roof, as siblings. Their names only numbers before their first nanny decided to take naming them into her own hands. Though, even with names, they were still only numbers to their father. Tools in an experiment, as Diego would say later on. 

Another strange thing about these strange children were their powers. Powers only seen in them, all different throughout the seven kids, from the ability of jumping through time and space, to being able to see the dead. 

Reginald Hargeeves kept them under harsh lock and key, keeping their lives, and their powers hidden away from the world. Being the most powerful man in the Erudite faction, and possibly the most powerful throughout the five, this was not a difficult task in any way. Besides the politics of his faction, he was just like any other man. Except for the seven children with powers living under his large roof. 

Though they were never children, in Reginalds eyes. No, all they were was beings, powerful beings in their own right, but beings that he could experiment on and put to the test. 

And oh, did he put them to the test. Not testing just each other on their powers, no, but testing innocents. Innocent animals, innocent people, later rumoured to forget everything by Allison.

Allison, the girl who would later cry in her room every night, hardened into a young woman far earlier than she should have been. A girl who wanted to live her life freely, but even that was taken away from her. 

Luther, the boy with the strength, the number one. Forced to fight his siblings, to listen as they cried while their nannies patched up the wounds that he had inflicted on them. A boy that had to be a leader so soon. A boy who only wanted to make his father proud, but could never seem to quite get there, always haunted by the man's harsh stare. 

Vanya, the girl with the powers everyone was afraid of, the ability to draw power from surrounding sounds and turn them into energy. The girl who "wasn't important." The last number. A girl who just wanted to be a part of the group, not that there was much of one anyways. 

Five, the boy who was never really a boy at all, just a number. A boy that could jump through space and even time, but a boy all the same. One that just wanted a stable family. But was that even possible in a world that split families up? In a world that broke already broken families apart? 

Ben, a boy who wanted to be his own. But no, instead, he had something that wasn't his own. The Horror, as it was called, more so controlling him than he controlled it. No matter how many hours of torturous training he was put through, he could never really gain control over the monster that was a part of him. A boy who questioned whether or not he himself was the true monster. 

Klaus, a boy haunted by who he was. And not just by who he was, but who he was surrounded by. A boy that the ghosts never ceased to haunt, until he found his escape in the drugs that warded them off. Drugs that he snuck out of the large house and the Erudite compound for. Drugs that he found and bought in alleyways where the most unnoticeable and clever factionless lived. A boy who just wanted to be numb.

And Diego, a boy used for his skill in landing anything he throws, used for his powers and his powers only. A boy that was forced day after day through torturous training, throwing knives at and killing innocent creatures, cats, dogs, and the like that Reginald must have picked up from the surrounding streets. A boy that just wanted to be loved, one way or another. Just as all of them did. 

These seven children, a family, but not really. How can a family exist in a world where families were being constantly torn apart by factions? Factions that were meant to keep the peace, meant to prevent war. But what was that worth, in the end, when you had nothing to fight for? No one to fight with? 

Reginald kept them under strict lock and key, yes, but there was one event that came and he could hide them no longer. The event that not even the most powerful, wealthy man could keep anyone from. The choosing ceremony. 

The choosing ceremony, a yearly occurrence in their world, was a time when all the graduating students, eighteen years of age, would gather at the hub and choose the faction that they would live in throughout the remainder of their life. The faction that would take them in. The faction where broken families would make new families, just for those to be broken too. 

Though before the choosing ceremony, there was of course, the test. The test that would put each graduating student through a landscape in the mind that would put them through tasks, and what they decided throughout these tasks would show what faction they belonged in. Whether it was none, one, or several. Most seemed to be in the first and second categories, though the ones in the third normally didn't make it out of the test room alive. Those people were divergent. 

This test normally happened during last semester school lunch hours, but because Reginald had the influence to take them out of the school for training instead, take them away from people who would question how and why they were different, they would have to take the test another way. 

This was another thing that Reginald Hargreeves could not prevent, no matter how much the arrogant yet intelligent man argued, there was no way he could avoid the test or the ceremony. The one thing that the seven children could use to escape him. To escape the hours of training that wore them down day after day, that their own father had put them through, saying that they would "save the world" someday. 

Though Reginald saw this as a terrible thing, sending his experiments as far away from him as they pleased, many of the children saw this as their way of escape, and had been looking forward to the day for years. Not even Reginald Hargreeves, Erudite faction leader and billionaire, could stop them from participating in the choosing ceremony. Could not stop them from their one way of escape. 

And escape, many of them did. Splitting off into different factions, some being in the same purposefully while others were in the same faction without meaning, and most were alone. At least one child going to each of the different factions. 

And yet they all felt a little less lonely in their new factions. There was always a lurking feeling of fear, of paranoia that had been trained into them from a young age, but most, if not all, of the children were happy where they had ended up. 

Yes, some saw this as an opportunity, as a way to escape, but one saw it as a way to show loyalty to their father. To make him proud. 

This was Luther, the boy that was held on a pedestal for most of his life, the stress and pressure of wanting to be good enough for their father resting on his shoulders as he tried and tried to make him proud. But never good enough, in his father's eyes. Especially when he was tasked with trying to get the rest of the children to stay in Erudite and failing, having to come home to his father's disappointed stare. And he wonders if he made the right decision. 

This was all in the future, though. As for now, the children were stuck. Some could almost taste the freedom that was so close after 18 hard years of torture-like training. With the test only three days away, and the choosing ceremony a night after that, the academy, the Hargreeves home, was buzzing with nervous yet excited energy as the siblings sat around the table. Reginald sitting at the head of the table as their nanny bustled around, picking up as she went with little to no noise, the room silent as they all ate, glancing around at each other but never at their father. 

"Beatrice, I'd like a moment alone with the children." Reginald spoke, eyeing her as she startled and nodded, quickly speeding out of the room. Leaving them in an uncomfortable silence as forks scraped against plates and spaghetti was slurped by the few that had a remaining appetite. 

Reginald cleared his throat before continuing. "As you know, the test to determine which faction you belong in is in three days. The choosing ceremony is the day after. You all know this, correct?" He received stiff nods from all of them as they set down their forks, all mentally preparing for the conversation that was ahead. 

"You are all to do what is expected." He said, placing his own utensils down onto the table. 

Klaus snorted, and received a kick from Ben and an angry look from Reginald in response as Allison spoke up. 

"And what is it that's expected of us?" She asked, but glanced back down at her full plate when his gaze traveled back from Klaus to her. 

"It is expected of you, number three, to do the right thing." He picked up his fork and knife once again before continuing. "Now, no talking during meal time." 

The children, (Not quite children anymore, but were they ever?) all exchanged glances with one another before bringing their eyes back down to their plates, attempting to eat in the uncomfortable environment as appetites quickly dissipated. 

Hours later, when their nanny, who didn't do much anymore but clean, had left for the day. And Reginald was finally asleep after hours of Luther keeping watch, waiting for their father to leave to his room. The siblings were finally able to meet in the living room of the house, quiet as they could be. Considering the time was around three in the morning, they would all be regretting this during early morning training tomorrow.

"So, dad wants us to all choose Erudite." Luther started, and they all stared at him incredulously, but Diego was the one that spoke. 

"Yeah, no shit." He said, a non-humorous laugh attached to the words. Luther just crossed his arms and glared. 

"Okay. So what are we going to do?" He asked, slightly exasperated at the disbelieving looks on his siblings faces. 

Five stood, squaring up to Luther and crossing his own arms before replying, "I don't know about you, but I'm getting the hell out of here." He jumped to the doorway of the room and said, "I think we're done here." Before walking out slowly, presumably to his room. 

After a beat of silence, Klaus soon stood up to leave the room without a word, Ben trailing after him a second later, walking into their respective rooms and closing the doors quietly, different to Five, who uncaringly slammed the door, causing the remaining siblings to flinch. 

After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Allison stood awkwardly before looking between Diego and Luther, hands clasped in front of her as she gave them both a tentative small smile and walked to her room as Vanya did the same, leaving them to sit across from each other, gazes never meeting. 

Diego sighed, standing up and patting Luther's shoulder, slightly demeaning as he said, "Way to lead." Walking leisurely out of the room as he felt Luther's glare on his back. 

Luther exhaled a heavy breath, before standing as he heard the last of his siblings doors close, and headed to his own room, shutting the door gently behind him. 

The siblings all fell asleep late that night, some dreaming of the choosing ceremony, some dreading it, but they all definitely regretted staying up at six a.m. training that morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, the even squad is my favorite thing ever I love them all so much so their dynamic and aptitude tests come first!

Three days seemed to pass in almost no time. As all the siblings woke on the day of the test, there was an air of nervous excitement in the home during breakfast time as the Hargreeves ate in silence, a buzz in the air. The siblings had all at one point dreaded and looked forward to this day. Their eyes glanced around the room in anticipation for their test, and what would come the day after. 

The time for them to all take the test had been appointed for 3:00 p.m. After morning training had them dragging their feet to their separate rooms, all they could do was wait anxiously for the time to come. The hours ticked by especially slowly after Reginald canceled their training until tonight, and all the siblings could do was stare at their clocks, counting the seconds that went by until the time finally came. 

Reginald called for them just as he did during practice mission calls. (Not that they ever went on missions, Reginald deciding to keep the children, and their powers all to himself.) The alarms next to each of the doors of their respective rooms blared and flashed red as each of the siblings stood and walked from their rooms towards the main hall, stopping in front of their father as he stared at them quietly. 

He cleared his throat before speaking. "The test is today. And as you should know, it will determine which faction you 'belong in.' The results of this test will not matter when you choose Erudite. Clear?" He asked, and all the children nodded stiffly, walking in a group towards the high school where their test would commence. 

As they walked through the city, Reginald being left behind at the house, they felt all the eyes of the people on the streets on them, factionless and not. And who could blame them? The Hargreeves were a forbidden thing, something unable to be seen. And here they were, seeing them walk through the city with an almost fearsome air to their step, heads held high, a reflection on how they were taught. 

When they entered the school building, void of people except for them, their guide, and the seven people who would each be giving them their test. All Abnegation, the children noted, as they walked down the hallway, led by a man who introduced himself as Thomas. 

They were all led into a narrow hallway with several doors lining one side of the wall. They were told to stand, back to the wall, each of them in front of a seperate door while they traded nervous glances, never speaking. 

"You can go in now." Thomas had said, and they all hesitated for only a second, before walking into the rooms, the doors shutting loudly behind them. 

~^~

Diego

~^~

Diego walked tentatively through the door in front of him, and saw a room, covered with mirrors, and watched his reflection only for a second before turning away. 

At the center of the room, there was a beige chair with a metal tray attached to the arm, a glass filled with clear liquid on top. On the other side of the chair sat an older lady with greying hair tied off into a ponytail and kind blue eyes, wearing a pale dress as she gave him a small but genuine smile. 

"Hi dear, my name is Anna. I'm going to be your test administrator." She gestured towards the seat next to her. "Go ahead and take a seat." 

He gave her a light nod before taking a few quick steps and sitting down, falling into the chair without a noise as he crossed his arms, tapping his fingers against the outside of his wrist anxiously. 

She picked up the glass and handed it to him as she spoke quietly. "The aptitude test will determine which faction you belong in. It will put you through a series of tests in a landscape in the mind. Go ahead and drink that." She said, tapping the side of the glass he held with her finger. 

He tilted his head back, and poured the sour liquid into his mouth, closing his eyes as he felt the serum take affect, falling unconscious. 

When he opened his eyes soon after, he was standing rather than sitting. He looked around to take in his surroundings, not that there were much of them anyways. He was in an empty, seemingly endless room with a white ceiling and a white tiled floor. 

When he blinked, he saw two stone pedestals appear in front of him, and stepped backwards in surprise, hands raised in anticipation of what would happen next. 

His hands fell back down to his side when he blinked again and a knife and a block of cheese began materializing on the two seperate pedestals. 

"Choose." He heard an unknown voice boom behind him, and he startled forward to stand in front of the pedestal with the knife resting on it. He lowers his hand towards the knife, running a finger down the smooth handle before gripping it tightly in his hand. He lifted the knife, and watched as the pedestals and cheese fell away, disappearing to nowhere. 

As he began surveying the area, he was startled again by a loud bark, then a vicious growl sounding behind him. He turned to the sound and held the knife out defensively, to see an aggressive looking dog begin running towards him. He stood taller, and held the knife out, pointing it towards the dog, only for it to run past him. 

He turned quickly to hear a young girl scream, and saw the dog running towards her, teeth snapping. He ran forward, closing his eyes, and tackled the dog to the floor, keeping its sharp teeth away from the young girl. 

When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting on a bus, a burned man, body covered in scars, sat across from him. 

He stared blatantly as the man picked through the newspaper clutched in his hands, stopping at a certain page before seeming to notice Diego's staring. He flipped the paper around and shoved it in Diego's face, who rolled his eyes before snatching it from the man. 

"Do you recognize him?" The man across from him said gruffly, and Diego shrugged, looking through the article about an attempted murder with a picture of a man with dark hair and light eyes staring emotionlessly at the camera pictured above it. 

As he looked at the man in the article, he recognized that he had never seen that face before in his entire life, and yet, he had a vague thought pressing down in the back of his mind, telling him that yes, he knew the man in the article. He looked up at the man sitting across from him, who eyed Diego warily, and he realized that telling the man might help him, but he also had a feeling that it would get himself into fairly deep shit. 

He set the newspaper down beside him, and shook his head at the man. "Nope. I've never seen that guy in my entire life." He said, crossing his arms and staring the man down, almost daring him to say something. 

What surprised Diego was when the man stood, angrily poking a finger harshly into Diego's chest, and began to scream loudly in his face. 

"You do! I can tell you do! Who is this man?" He continued to scream, and Diego stood up off of the seat, forcing the man away before turning and beginning to walk off of the bus. Before he could even make it to the doors, he blinked, and the image faded away, and he was left in the room lined with mirrors, back in the uncomfortable chair. 

He lifted his head from the seat, observing the room drowsily, and turned to see the older woman from before, Anna, staring at him with a sad smile. 

He pressed a hand to his head, rubbing his temples as he asked, "So, what was my result?" She placed a hand on his, and he looked up, confused. 

"Dauntless and Abnegation." She said, patting his hand once and turning to type on her computer, leaving him to stare at her, confused. 

"What?" He asked bluntly, turning his body fully to face her. 

She sighed as she turned to him. "It's rare, but only three factions were eliminated during your test. You need to be careful, don't tell anyone, not even your family. I entered Dauntless manually, but you need to go home now." She said as she urged him to move from the chair. 

He stood, still slightly disoriented as he pressed the heel of his hands to his eyes and was led to the door. He looked back to see her back in the chair, before looking back ahead and opening the door, walking back out into the hallways he was in what felt like hours before. 

Turning his head, he saw Klaus standing at the end of the hallway, staring at seemingly nothing, his arms crossed with a thoughtful look on his face. A look that Diego rarely saw on his brother. 

Taking a step forward, the sound of Diego's step grabbed Klaus' attention, and his head moved at breakneck speak, whipping around to turn towards the sound that was made as he stumbled backward a step. Diego held his hands up in what he hoped was a calm gesture, though he was definitely anything but calm after what he had been told just seconds before. 

He took a few steps forward to arrive in front of Klaus, and put his hands back down by his sides slowly as he spoke. 

"Dude, are you okay?" 

~^~

Klaus 

~^~

Walking into the room, Klaus immediately paused at the sight of it, glancing around nervously between the walls of mirrors and the chair sitting eerily in the center of the room. 

He took a small step forward before noticing the young man, only a couple years older than Klaus, sitting next to the chair, a plastic fake smile plastered onto his face, and Klaus startled, taking an even smaller step backwards. The man's smile dropped slightly. 

"My name is James. Go ahead and sit in the chair." The man, James, said with a voice faker than his smile as he gestured towards the chair. 

Klaus shuffled forward hesitantly, sitting down tensely in his chair, decidedly far too sober for this. 

James turned away from Klaus to grab a small glass before turning back, placing it heavily into his hands as he spoke. 

"So, this serum is going to put you into a landscape in the mind. Whatever you decide will show what faction you're in and stuff like that." He gestured towards the glass that had yet to be empty as Klaus looked at it, apprehensive. "Well? Drink it." James said, and Klaus sighed, looking to his unimpressed face before turning back and drinking the clear liquid. Leaning his head against the chair, Klaus closed his eyes and waited, ignoring the feeling of James ripping the empty glass from his hands. 

When his eyes opened again, he was immediately disoriented, standing instead of sitting. Taking a few stumbling steps to regain his balance, Klaus looked around to see an empty room, matching white ceiling and floor with no walls in sight. 

Whipping his head around, taking a few steps here and there, Klaus observed the room, only to find that it was completely empty. 

Then he blinked, and two pedestals appeared. He took a startled step backwards, but began to walk forward again as he squinted his eyes, watching as a knife appeared on one and a block of cheese appeared on the other. He stopped walking when he was a few feet in front of the pedestals, eyeing them hesitantly. 

"Choose." He heard the echoing voice say, and he looked around to see where it was coming from, only to find nothing and look back towards the pedestals, taking a small step closer to the area between them. 

"Choose." The voice said, even louder than before, and Klaus flinched slightly, and raised both his hands slowly. 

"Choose." The voice said again, and Klaus groaned, before jumping to grab both of the items on the pedestals and clutched them to his chest. 

When he looked up again, the pedestals were gone, but when he looked down to the items in his hands, he frowned at the sight of the cheese and the knife slowly disappearing in his hands. He groaned in frustration and clutched his hands into fists, staring down at them. 

He immediately looked back up when a growl sounded behind him, whipping his head around to see a vicious looking dog begin to charge at him, only twenty meters away and getting closer and closer by the second, and Klaus had nothing to defend himself with. 

He clutched his hands tighter than before, and stood as tall as he could, pushing his chest out and making himself big, as if he was trying to scare off the feral dog. What he didn't expect was the way the dog ran past him. 

When he turned his head to see what the dog was running to, he gasped when he saw the image of a young girl, the dog nipping at her heels as it chased her, eventually grabbing onto her dress and ripping a tear into the fabric, causing her to stumble. 

Klaus ran as fast as he could towards the scene in front of him and jumped onto the dog, pushing the girl out of the way as he pushed the dog down. He closed his eyes as he went to the ground, or more so, through the ground. 

When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting down on a bus. Across from him, a badly scarred man held a newspaper closely to his face as he flipped through the pages roughly. Once he got to a certain page, he let the paper fall slightly and stared down at it before quickly turning it to shove into Klaus' face. 

"Do you know this man?" The man demanded, clutching the paper tightly in front of Klaus, who only rolled his eyes and yanked the paper from the man's hand, causing him to glare but sit back in his seat as he watched Klaus. 

Klaus glared at the man in front of him before turning his head back to the paper to see an article of an attempted murder on who he assumed was the man in front of him. Pictured above the article was the attacker, who was said to not be found yet. The man in the picture had bright green eyes and dark brown hair, and Klaus had never seen him before in his entire life. And yet there was a quiet voice in the back of his head telling him that yes, he did know the man in the picture. 

Klaus handed the man the newspaper harshly before nodding to him and speaking. 

"Yeah, I recognize him." He said, and the man stood, opening his mouth wide to seemingly yell at Klaus, but then he blinked, and he was back in the room he started, head leaning back against the headrest. 

He moved his eyes to survey the room, and found his test administrator, James, staring at him with what seemed like fear in his eyes. 

Klaus hopped up from the chair, ignoring the way James flinched and spoke.

"So? What was my result?" He asked, and turned quickly to James, who shook his head, muttering to himself before looking back up to Klaus. 

"All of them." He said, his mouth coming to a straight line as his eyebrows furrowed. "Every single one." 

"What…" Klaus trailed off, shaking his head. "What does that even mean?" He asked, and James bit his lip. 

"You're Divergent." He said, a tremble to his voice, and at the tilt of Klaus' head, he continued. "Amity. Dauntless. Erudite. Candor. Abnegation." 

"Yeah, I know what the five factions are. Which one was my result?" Klaus asked, exasperated. 

"That was your result. You got all of them." James said, and Klaus shook his head. 

"That's impossible. I've never heard of anything like that before." He said, and James sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, but never taking his eyes off of Klaus. 

"You need to go. Now. I will manually enter your score as Erudite." He said, and Klaus just stood there. "Go!" He said more forcefully, and Klaus turned on his heels, walking out through the door he used to come in.

He walked to stand at the end of the hallway, not wanting to leave on his own and instead deciding to wait for at least one of his siblings to come out, if any were even left. 

He crossed his arms, and stared at the wall across from him. 'What did this mean for him? What did this mean for his family? What was he going to do? What if-' 

His thoughts were cut off by a step sounding only a few meters away, and Klaus snapped his head up, stumbling backwards in surprise, to see Diego, an almost scared look on his face as he looked at Klaus, raising his hands as he attempted to put on a calm facade. 

Klaus uncrossed his arms, and watched as Diego walked slowly towards him, stepping in front of Klaus and lowering his arms. 

"Dude, are you okay?" He asked, and Klaus laughed without humour. 

"Yeah. Fine. Let's get out of here though." He said, itching to leave, and Diego nodded. But before they could even move, the door at the opposite end of the doorway opened up, and Ben stepped out of it, a pensive look on his face. 

~^~

Ben

~^~

Ben walked through the door and into the room and stopped, letting the door fall shut behind him, turning his head slowly to observe the room covered in mirrors. 

The first thing he noticed was the chair in the center of the room, a metal tray attached to the arm. Sitting on top of the tray a small glass filled with a clear liquid, which Ben eyed, apprehensive. 

Standing next to the chair was a nervous looking woman, who could have only been a year older than Ben, wringing her hands together tightly as she stared at him. 

He took a step forward, and that seemed to startle her into action, jumping to her computer and typing quickly before grabbing the liquid off of the tray, spilling some slightly in her haste. 

"Hello, I'm Hannah." She said, and Ben nodded, and didn't speak or move another step as she sorted herself, holding the cup tighter and tucking her hair behind her ear. She steadied herself before speaking again. 

"I'm Hannah, and I'll be your test administrator." Her voice shook slightly, and she adjusted her glasses and looked back to Ben. "If you'll go ahead and sit?" She asked, and Ben nodded and moved forward, collapsing into the chair and crossing his arms tightly as he watched Hannah move around the room. 

"So," She started, handing him the glass quickly before moving back to the computer and squinted at the screen. "The aptitude test is a landscape in the mind, what you choose will show what faction you belong in, good luck." She stood up straight and took a step closer to him, gesturing to the glass in his hand. "Drink up." 

Ben glanced at her before looking back to the glass in his hands and tipping it back, letting the sour-tasting liquid slip past his lips. He set the glass back down on the table, and blinked his eyes slowly before falling unconscious. 

When what felt like no time at all passed, Ben's eyes shot open and he was standing. 

Blinking his eyes wildly, Ben whipped his head around to look at the room, not that there was much to see. Only a white ceiling and a white tiled floor with walls too far away to be in sight. Ben sighed and squeezed his eyes shut, before opening them again and seeing no change. 

Sighing again, he crossed his arms and took a step forward, attempting to get to where he needed to be, wherever that was. But when he blinked, two large pedestals suddenly appeared in front of him, and he startled backward at the sudden appearance. 

Leaning forward, he watched as things began to materialize slowly onto each of the pedestals, a knife on the one to his left and a block of cheese on the one to his right. He took a step forward, and glanced back and forth between the objects. 

"Choose* the voice called out around him, and Ben jumped forward closer to the pedestals as he flinched at the loud noise, and continued staring at the objects, leaning towards the cheese. 

"Choose." The voice said again, harsher this time, and Ben sighed. Stepping forward, he extended his arm slowly towards the block of cheese, hovering his hand over it hesitantly before grabbing it and bringing it closer, clutching it to his chest as he watched the now empty pedestal disappear, and the pedestal with the knife disappear after that. 

He held the cheese tightly as he turned, keeping his eyes on as much of the room as he could as he waited, tapping the hand not holding the cheese nervously against his leg. 

Then he suddenly heard a loud growl sound behind him, and he whipped his head around to see a feral looking dog sprinting towards him, only twenty meters away. 

Before the dog could get too close, Ben dropped to his knees, tossing the cheese a foot or so in front of him and tilting his head down, but kept his eyes up. 

He watched as the dog raced towards him, but stopped only a few feet away, walking slowly towards the cheese and sniffing it before eating it quickly and coming to Ben eagerly, now looking more like a puppy rather than a wild dog. 

Ben smiled and tilted his head back up, leaning back on his knees and scratching behind the dog's ears, grinning at the sight of the now puppy. 

"Puppy." The voice of a little girl sounded behind him, and he tensed before turning his head and seeing the girl, smiling widely at the puppy that was now out of Ben's vision. 

Then the girl's face became scared, Ben watched as her eyes grew wide and she gasped, turning away and beginning to run. 

He looked at the girl, confused, before turning back to the dog to see that it had gone back to its feral state. Ben stood quickly, but the dog's eyes we're not on him this time, but on the girl instead. 

He turned as the Dog began sprinting towards the girl, and watched as it nipped at her heels before he ran forward. Chasing after both the girl and the dog and quickly catching up to their now-slow pace, coming up behind the dog and pushing it out of the way of the girl, only to fall to the ground himself, squeezing his eyes shut as the dog growled from its spot on the ground beside him. 

When Ben opened his eyes again after the dogs growls finally grew silent, he was sitting rather than lying on the floor. He was on what he assumed to be a bus, sitting across from a man covered in scarred-over burns, flipping through a newspaper quickly, his eyes flicking over the pages before stopping at a certain one, holding it farther from his face to observe it before turning it around quickly and shoving it into Ben's face, causing him to flinch backwards before the man in front of him spoke. 

"Do you know this man?" He asked, shoving the paper impossibly further into Ben's face, eyeing him warily as he took the paper from the man. 

Ben glanced quickly at the man in front of him before turning back down to the paper, turning quickly to the page the man was on to see an article detailing an attempted murder, on who he assumed was the man in front of him. Pictured above the article was an image of a man, staring blankly into the camera with dark and haunting eyes. 

Ben had never seen the man in the picture before. He didn't recognize him at all, and yet, he had a feeling that yes, he did know the man. He also had a feeling telling him that knowing the man in the picture wouldn't do himself any good. 

He turned to the man in front of him and held the paper out towards him, letting it get taken from his grip and leaning back in his seat before speaking. 

"I haven't seen that man in my entire life." He crossed his arms, and waited for the man's response. What he definitely didn't expect, though, was the way the man stood, coming close to Ben and sticking a finger in his chest before screaming in his face. 

"You do! Tell me who this man is. I know you know him!" He yelled, and Ben sighed, closing his eyes as he tried to block out the scene in front of him. 

When the man's voice abruptly stopped, Ben opened his eyes only to find that he was back in the testing room, sitting in the beige chair. 

He sat up in his seat slightly to look around at the unchanged room, and turned his head to see his test administrator, Hannah, staring at the computer screen, a confused look on her face as she continued to refresh the results shown. 

"This isn't possible…" She muttered to herself, continuing to tap away at the screen. Ben coughed slightly to get her attention, and she startled, quickly standing up straight and turning to face him and stare at him strangely. 

"So…?" Ben questioned, slightly uncomfortable with her staring. When she didn't reply, he continued. "What was my result?" 

"Well…" She trailed off and bit her lip before continuing. "Erudite, Amity and Abnegation is what it reads, but I'm sure there's just been a malfunction." She said, and Ben tensed. 

"I think that I'll just put a single answer in manually. Amity? Yeah, let's do Amity." She mumbled to herself before turning back to the computer and typing. When she finished, she turned back to Ben. 

"Sorry about that." She said kindly. "It's my first time with the tests, I must have messed something up." She gestured lightly towards the door and tilted her head. "You can go ahead and leave, good luck at the choosing ceremony tomorrow." She smiled genuinely, and Ben nodded before walking out through the door he entered what could have only been twenty minutes before and pausing, letting the door slam loudly behind him as he looked to the ground, thinking about what his results could possibly mean. 

"Ben?" He heard a voice, Klaus, call out, and he snapped his head to look up, seeing Klaus and Diego standing at the end of the hallway, staring at him strangely. 

"Let's… let's get out of here." Ben said, walking towards them quickly as they nodded, turning to face the doors of the school as Ben caught up with them. 

They walked the long way from the school back to their house, Diego's arms around his brother's shoulders the whole way as they ignored the looks of confusion from people on the streets. When they arrived, they went to their separate rooms, dreading the dinner that would come that night, but looking forward to the day after. The day they could all finally escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think that their aptitude tests were accurate? Also sorry this was so much longer than the first chapter kckzkfkxkzs I love my boys


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still on schedule :DD I hope you like this chapter 🥺

Luther

~^~

Luther walked into the room, and was startled to see it covered in mirrors, with a hospital-like chair set up in the center, a man with brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in plain clothing sat next to the chair. 

Luther walked closer hesitantly as the man smiled at him and gestured towards the chair. When he sat down the man spun it around quickly, making it face the wall to the right, with Luther's head leaning heavily against the headrest. The man gathered his supplies as he began to speak. 

"Hello, I'm Ryan. I'm sure you know this, but this is your aptitude test, it will determine which faction you belong in with a landscape in the mind." He picked a glass of clear liquid up from the tray and handed it to Luther. "Drink that, and the test will begin." 

Luther eyed the drink warily, before shrugging minutely and tipping the glass back, allowing the bitter liquid to fall past his lips and down his throat. He felt Ryan take the glass from his hands, and heard him set it back down on the tray, but after that, he slipped from consciousness, his eyes closing slowly.

When he opened his eyes again, Luther was immediately disoriented by the fact that he was standing. He moved his head to look at his surroundings, and saw a completely empty, seemingly endless room, no walls close enough to be in his sight, but a white floor and a white ceiling. He blinked, and two pedestals appeared in his vision. He took a startled step back, and stared as a block of cheese began to materialize on one, and a knife began to materialize on the other. 

"Choose." He jumped as he heard the booming voice, coming from everywhere, coming from his head. He didn't move, only looked around frantically before his gaze fell back onto the pedestals and he took a tentative step forward. 

"Choose." He heard again, and went forward a few more steps. He stood in front of the pedestals, staring, before grabbing the knife in his hands, gripping the handle tightly and startling once again as the pedestals and the cheese disappeared. 

He heard a growl from behind him and turned to face where it was coming from, to see a vicious looking dog, teeth bared as it started to run forward. 

As the dog ran forward, several meters away at that point, Luther attempted to clear his mind of any fear that may have come at the sight of the large animal. He closed his eyes momentarily, taking comfort in the fact that the dog was far enough away to take several seconds to come close to him. He thought back to his training in animals, and remembered his father's stern voice telling him and his siblings that being submissive towards aggressive animals, like wolves and dogs, would stop them, rather than being aggressive in return. 

He opened his eyes to see the dog, a few meters away now, and dropped to his knees, bowing his head as he heard the dog come to a stop in front of him, feeling it's breath on his face as he looked up to see a small, much less aggressive looking dog standing in front of him, and he smiled. 

"Puppy." He whipped his head around as he heard the unexpected voice of a young girl sound behind him. 

He saw her smile, and take a step closer, as if to pet the dog, but when Luther looked back, the dog in front of him was looking just as aggressive as it had when he had first seen it.

He turned his head back around to see the girl take a frantic step backwards as the dog in front of him began to barrel towards her.

He stood quickly and ran at the dog, tackling it to the floor as the girl fell from the momentum in front of him. He blinked but when he opened his eyes, 

He was on a bus. A very crowded bus, filled to the brim with people in all types of clothing, all different colors, and sitting across from him was a scarred man. He had burns and cuts all over his body, and he was staring angrily down at a newspaper, flipping the pages almost anxiously until he came across a page and stared at it before turning the paper to Luther. 

"Do you know this man?" The man asked, almost shoving the paper in Luther's face. He grabbed it gently from the man to look, and saw a picture of a middle-aged man, with black hair and hazel eyes, staring dully at the camera. He had never seen the man before in his entire life, not recognizing the face at all. But he had a vague sense of remembrance, something in the back of his mind telling him that yes, he did know the man. He knew that he could help the man across from him by telling him the answer, but he also had a feeling of dread lurking in his stomach, that something bad would happen to him if he said something. 

He turned to the person across from him and handed the newspaper back  
Sitting back in his seat, Luther faced the man across from him, who eyed him warily, clutching the paper in his hands tightly as he waited for an answer. 

"No sir," Luther started, clenching his jaw. "I do not know that man." He crossed his arms, and waited for the man across from him to reply. 

What he did not expect was the way the man stood angrily, stomping up to him and getting close to Luther's face as he screamed, drawing the attention of other people on the bus. 

"You do! I can tell you do! Tell me who this man is! You liar!" He continued screaming at Luther, who only shook his head steadily and held his hands to the man's chest, pushing him lightly away. When he blinked, the scene in front of him was gone, and he was back in the room he had started in. The room with mirrors lining the walls. 

He shot up from his seat, and immediately began pacing the room, forgetting about the man sitting next to his chair that administered the test as thoughts raced through his mind. 

He eventually whipped his head to face the man, who flinched, and before Luther could say anything, he noticed the almost scared look on his test administrator, Ryan's face. 

Luther looked at him questioningly, tilting his head with a quiet 'what?' As he noticed Ryan's hands began to shake over their place on the keyboard of the computer where Luther assumed his test scores would be recorded. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, before taking a step forward, noting the way Ryan scooted his chair back slightly. 

Luther sighed, and scratching the back of his head, he asked, "So? What did I get?" He asked, and Ryan looked at him, disbelieving. 

"What did you get?" He parroted, and Luther huffed, gesturing for him to continue. 

When he only gaped, Luther sighed. "Faction. What faction did I get?" He asked again, and Ryan sighed in return, leaning back in his own chair as he sighed. 

"Erudite." Luther staggered back slightly at what that word immediately brought to his mind. Was he as similar to his father as his siblings always said he was? He was more confused than relieved when Ryan continued. 

"And Dauntless." 

Luther shook his head wildly. "But that's impossible." He said, and Ryan shook his head in return, standing as he said, 

"Not impossible. Just, extremely. Rare." Luther shook his head again, taking a step back as he continued speaking. "You need to get out of here. Go home. I'll have to manually put in your test score, now go!" He said frantically, shoving Luther out the door he came in. 

He stumbled through the doorway, and stared at the ground as he began to walk slowly through the hall, and ran right into Five, who was coming out of his own testing room. A look on his face that was just as confused as Luther felt. 

~^~

Five

~^~

When Five walked past the door and into the room, he immediately stopped the first step he took, the door slamming behind him loudly, but he didn't flinch. 

He looked around the room to see a beige ceiling and beige floor, the wall color unknown due to being covered by mirrors, his reflection staring back at him. 

In the center of the room, there was a hospital-like chair, with a metal tray attached to the arm, a small glass of clear liquid resting on top of it. 

Close beside the chair, there was a computer desk with a middle aged man sitting next to it, giving Five a small, kind smile. He gestured towards the chair, and Five eyed him warily before sitting down, back tense as he looked at the man. 

The man smiled again. "Hi son, my name is Michael." He said, and waited for Five to respond, perhaps with his own name, but continued on when he got no response. "I'll be your test administrator. You'll be put in a mind landscape and the choices you make will determine your faction." He picked up the glass from the tray and handed it to Five, who took it carefully, making sure not to make contact with the man in front of him. 

"Go ahead and drink up." Michael said, gesturing encouragingly to the drink that Five had done nothing but stare at. Five eyed the man one more time before leaning his head lightly against the headrest and tipping the small glass back, letting the bitter tasting liquid slip past his lips. 

Closing his eyes, he sat the glass down onto the metal tray beside him and crossed his arms, waiting for something to happen. 

When he eventually blinked his eyes open, he was standing rather than sitting, and took a few steps to regain his balance and quickly turned his head to observe the room, finding it to be completely empty with only a white ceiling and floor, walls too far out of sight to be seen. 

As he walked forward, he only made it a few steps before he blinked, and suddenly two pedestals appeared in front of him, and he took a slightly startled step backwards before leaning closer. 

As he moved closer to the pedestals, he saw objects begin to materialize on each of them. On one side, a knife, and on the other, a block of cheese. Before he could even start to think of what to do, a voice boomed out from somewhere in the room, or more so, somewhere in his mind. 

"Choose." The voice said loudly, and he flinched, turning slightly to check behind him before turning again to face the pedestals, watching them carefully, but not moving. 

"Choose." The voice said again, louder and more persistent this time. Five took a small step forward, but not towards a certain object.

"Choose." He almost covered his ears at the intensity of the voice, but once again made no move towards either object. Instead, he hesitantly spoke to the voice coming from nowhere. 

"Why?" He asked, attempting to match his voice to the intensity of the one speaking to him but failing greatly. 

"Choose." The voice was now as quiet as the first time it had spoken, less harsh, but equally as persistent. Five still stood where he was, unmoving. 

The voice didn't say anything more, and Five sighed in relief, but staggered forward as he watched the pedestals, and the objects on top of them, slowly vanish. His attempts to grab them were futile as the objects only continued to disappear once in his hands. 

"Well shit." He muttered to himself, clenching his hands into fists as he surveyed the room, waiting for something to happen next. 

Even as he moved his head around, not taking his eyes off any parts of the room for more than a few seconds, he didn't notice the dog, that growled at him from twenty meters away as he whipped around to face it. 

At his sudden movement, the dog instantly started barreling towards him, paws hitting the tiled floor loudly as it raced closer and closer to Five, who just stood as he thought back to his training in animals. Training he once thought would be useless, but here he was. 

Just before the dog could get to him, he drops to his knees, bowing his head down as he waits in anticipation, hoping that he paid enough attention during training to be right. 

He assumes that he was, when he hears the pounding of the dogs paws abruptly stop and feels the dogs hot breath on the top of his head.

When he looks up, he sees that the once feral dog is now a puppy, staring at him with wide eyes and tail wagging. He eyes it warily before moving his hand and patting it's head, giving a small smile when the dog nudges it's head into Fives hand. 

"Puppy." He hears the voice sound from behind him, and he whips his head around to see a small girl in a beige dress, taking small steps forward as she smiles at the dog, and Five can't help but smile back. 

Until he sees the look of terror flash on her face as she turns and begins to run. He quickly turns to see that the dog is no longer the innocent looking puppy, but is now the same feral dog as it was before. 

Five quickly stands and turns, watching as the dog races towards the little girl, eventually catching up to her slow pace and crashing into her, bringing her towards the ground. 

Five closes his eyes at the sight, only hearing the dogs ferocious growl, but he opens his eyes quickly when the sound abruptly stops to see that he is now sitting down on a crowded bus. 

Across from him sat a man covered with scars, holding a newspaper so close to his face that the pages brushed his nose every time he flipped them. He scanned each page quickly before coming to one that he stared at before shoving the paper quickly into Fives face. 

"Do you recognize this man?" He demanded, pushing the paper closer to Five, who only scoffed and ripped the paper from his hands harshly, causing the man to stumble back into his own seat and shoot Five a cold glare. 

Five gave him a withering look before turning his head down towards the paper, seeing an article about an attempted murder, a man with dull green eyes and brown hair pictured above. Five had never seen the man in his entire life, and yet he had a vague sense that he knew the man, a small voice telling him in the back of his head that he did, that he had seen him around. 

Five looked up towards the man in front of him, who was eyeing him warily, and threw the paper in his face, causing him to glare and clutch the paper in his fist. When Five didn't say anything, the man spoke. 

"Well?" He asked, voice harsh as he stared Five down, waiting in anticipation for an answer. 

"Yeah, I recognize him, why?" Five asked casually, leaning against the back of his seat as he watched the man in front of him. He stood and quickly opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Five blinked, and he was suddenly back in the uncomfortable chair, in the room surrounded by mirrors. 

Five quickly shot up from his seat and turned to face his test administrator, Michael, who flinched away from him slightly, to which Five only responded with a raised eyebrow. 

When Michael just stared, Five finally spoke. "So?" He said quickly, and Michael just flinched again, causing Five to sigh. 

"What was my result?" He asked, and waited impatiently for a response. 

"Your result?" Michael asked incredulously and Five groaned. 

"Yeah." He said, crossing his arms. "My result." 

Michael sighed, and turned to the computer, typing something unknown to Five as he sighed, before turning back to him and standing. 

"Erudite and Candor." He said, taking a small step forward as Fives arms dropped, his mouth falling open in surprise as he stared. 

"I manually entered your result, but you need to go." When Five didn't move, Michael took another step forward, gesturing harshly towards the door. "Go, you need to leave, now." He said firmly, and Five sighed, and turned to walk out through the door he came in what felt like hours before. 

As soon as he walked out of the room, a large body slammed into him. He lifted his head in disbelief only to see Luther staring at him, and he sighed. 

"I'm guessing you want to get out of here as much as I do?" Five asked, turning to look at the door that led out of the school. 

Luther shook his head. "What about the oth-" 

"We need to leave." Five snapped, cutting him off. When Luther didn't move, Five sighed. "Now, preferably." He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, looking uncomfortable, and Luther sighed, nodding at his brother. 

Five almost seemed to relax at his words, his arms dropping to his sides as he nodded. "Let's go." 

They walked out of the building and to their house together, walking a few feet apart but still finding comfort in the togetherness that wouldn't have come if Luther had stayed behind to wait, or if Five had left instead of trying to convince Luther to come with him. 

When they arrived, they noticed the doors of Diego, Ben, and Klaus' rooms shut, but didn't comment on it. Only went to their respective rooms to wait the few dreadful hours that would come before dinner that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I've mentioned this yet (oops) but chapters are for the time being posted on Thursday at 4:00 pm CDT


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this one was posted a few minutes late! I was stacking cereal 😔😔

Allison

~^~

When Allison walked into the room, she immediately surveyed the space, noticing the mirror-lined walls with a hospital chair in the center, a metal tray attached to the side. 

Near the chair was a twenty-something year old woman, with long brown hair and kind blue eyes, dressed in beige clothing. 

The woman turned away from her place at the desk next to the chair, and turned to face Allison, giving her a small smile. 

"Hi, my name is Maddie. I'll be your test administrator. Please go ahead and sit in the chair...?"

"Allison." She continued for her, and walked forward, sitting gracefully in the chair and immediately resting her head against the back. 

"So, Allison," Maddie picked up a glass of clear liquid from the tray and held it out to Allison, who grabbed it and looked back up to her. "When you drink this serum, it will put you in a mind landscape. Whatever happens will show what faction you belong in. Good luck." 

Allison hesitantly looked at the glass, before tipping it back and letting the liquid slip past her lips. She set the glass on the tray beside her and closed her eyes, crossing her arms against her chest before drifting off. 

When she woke, she was standing rather than sitting, and felt a sensation of falling before opening her eyes and seeing a seemingly endless room, complete with a white ceiling and floor. 

She looked around for only a second more, before blinking and suddenly seeing two pedestals appear in front of her. As she began to slowly walk closer towards them, a block of cheese began to materialize on one pedestal as a knife began to appear on the other. When she reached the pedestals, she stood in front of them, glancing between the cheese and the knife, waiting for something to happen. 

"Choose." She heard the booming robotic voice ring out from all around her and whipped her head around frantically to find the source of the voice, only to find nothing. She turned her head back towards the pedestals and took a tentative step forward. 

"Choose." The unknown voice called out again, more urgent and pushing than before, but this time, Allison didn't flinch. 

Nodding to herself minutely, she took a large step towards the pedestal with the cheese. She came up in front of it and reached towards it, grabbing the cheese in her hands and bringing it down from the pedestal to clutch it close to her chest. 

Looking back up to where the pedestals were, she saw that they were gone, leaving an empty space in their place. 

She heard a deep growl sound behind her suddenly, and turned quickly to see a ferocious looking dog running quickly towards her, teeth bared as it barked loudly. 

Suddenly, she turned towards the dog, and making herself small, she kneeled onto the ground, bowing her head and closing her eyes tightly. She waited as she heard the pounding feet of the animal race towards her, only able to hope that she was remembering correctly that being submissive to an aggressive dog would help you more than being aggressive in return. 

She sensed that she was right when the sound of the paws hitting the tiled floor stopped, and it was confirmed when she looked up, seeing the dog, looking more like a puppy now, staring up at her innocently. 

She grinned, and lifted a hand to run down the dogs back, smiling at the way the dog stared at her lovingly and gave it the piece of cheese that was still clutched in her hand. 

"Puppy." She startled out of her place of peace at the sound of a young girl's voice coming from behind her. She jerked her head around to face the girl, who had a smile on her face as she took a tentative step forward, and Allison relaxed, smiling back at her. 

Turning back to face the dog, she was startled once again by the sight of the once-puppy now looking feral, breathing heavily as it stared at the girl. 

Allison stood quickly and watched as the dog barreled towards the young girl, chasing after her and nipping at her heels as she tripped over her dress. Allison covered her mouth in surprise as she saw the dog knock the girl down, and shut her eyes tightly. 

When she opened them again, she was sitting down. She looked around quickly to see that she was on a bus, sitting across from a man with scarred legs and arms, burns covering most of his body, a newspaper clutched in his hands, held so close to his face that it almost touched his nose as he skimmed through the pages, but eventually stopped at one and stared before turning the paper around and quickly shoving it towards Allison. 

"Do you know this man?" He asked, dropping the paper in her lap before leaning back in his own seat to cross his arms and stare at her harshly. 

She picked the paper up slowly to see an image of a man with light brown hair pictured above an article detailing an attempted murder. The guy pictured above having not been found. 

"Well?" The man in front of her sneered, glaring at her with his head tilted upwards. 

She glanced at him for only a second before returning her gaze back down to the paper. She had never seen the man before, and yet there was a thought in the back of her mind, pushing, screaming, that yes, she did know this man. 

Looking back up to the man across from her, she nodded her head. 

"Yes, I believe that I have seen him around somewhere." She said, and the man looked at her in surprise, before angrily snatching the paper from her hands and opening his mouth to speak, but before a sound could come out, Allison blinked, and she was back in the chair, in the room lined with mirrors. 

She sat up quickly and turned her head to survey the room until her gaze eventually fell on her test administrator, Maddie, who looked terrified, as trembling fingers moved slowly towards the phone on her desk. 

Allison stared at her, confused. "What is it?" Maddie flinched at her voice, but didn't say anything. "What's wrong? What's my result?" She asked again, and Maddie sat up stiffly. 

"Erudite, Candor and Amity. You're Divergent." Her hands grasped the phone as she began frantically typing in a number. Allison stood up from her seat and walked slowly towards her. 

"Divergent…?" She questioned, and Maddie nodded, phone to her ear as she waited for the call to pick up, tangling the cord around her finger anxiously as she nodded at Allison. 

"Yes, Divergent. It means you belong in more than one faction." She said stiffly, avoiding eye contact and backing into the wall as Allison steps forward. 

"What's going to happen to me?" She asked hesitantly, and Maddie paused, the phone slipping from her grip slightly as she sighed. 

"I'm calling my superior, they will take you." She said, and then grasped the phone tighter, picking at her lips nervously as the phone continued to ring. 

"Take me?" Allison asked, and Maddie nodded, as if it was a normal occurrence. 

Allison took a quick step forward, causing Maddie to drop the phone in surprise and back further into the wall as Allison leaned closer to her ear. 

"I heard a rumor… That my test result was Erudite. I heard a rumor that you need to manually put in my result due to a technical error." Allison held her breath in anticipation, even though she knew that it would work. It always worked. 

It took only a split second before the scared look was removed from Maddie's face. Instead, she smiled and sat back in her chair, twisting towards the computer to tap away at the keyboard. 

"Your result is Erudite, you can go ahead and leave through that door." She tilted her head in the direction of the only door in the room, the door that Allison had entered before, and Allison nodded in return, turning to walk through the door and out into the hallway. 

Walking out of the room, Allison noticed Vanya about to turn the corner towards the exit. She was walking quickly, her body tensed and her head was turned down towards the floor. 

Allison stepped forward quickly. "Vanya!" She called out, her voice slightly shaky. 

Vanya flinched before turning around hesitantly, relaxing when she saw that it was Allison, and she took a step forward. 

~^~

Vanya

~^~

Opening the door and walking through the doorway, Vanya turned her back on the room and gently shut the heavy door before turning back around to observe the room. 

Looking around, the first thing that Vanya noticed was the mirrors. The room was lined with them, and Vanya stared at her reflection only for a split second before her gaze moved to the center of the room, where an oddly shaped chair sat, a metal tray attached to the arm with a glass of clear liquid on top. 

Vanya turned away from the chair to see a middle aged man looking at her, a plain look on his face as he nodded his head towards the chair before turning his back towards her to type at his computer. She nodded to herself and stepped forward, sitting in the chair with her arms braced against the armrests, her back tensed in anticipation. The man's quiet demeanor doing nothing to help her nerves. 

"I am Matthew, your test administrator." He said, sitting down slowly in the chair next to her as he picked the glass up from the tray and placed it in her hands while she looked at it hesitantly. He sighed when she didn't move and spoke again. 

"You will be put in a mind landscape, the choices you make will determine the faction you belong in. Go ahead and drink." He gestured to the glass, and she nodded slightly before tipping the glass back and drinking the bitter liquid, setting the glass quickly onto the tray and closing her eyes, squeezing her hands tightly against the armrests as she waited. 

When she opened her eyes again, she was standing. She stumbled around a few steps to regain balance from the initial surprise, and when she steadied herself, she began to look around the new room she was in, not that there was much to see. 

The room was empty, and had a white ceiling and white floor. The walls were too far away on all sides to be seen. 

Vanya waited for only a second before taking a few steps forward in an attempt to find something, but she didn't get very far before two pedestals appeared, only a meter away from her, stopping her in her tracks as she stared at the fairly tall structures. 

Only what felt like a minute later, two things began materializing on the pedestals, and Vanya stepped closer to see what the objects were. 

On the podium to her right, a block of cheese was slowly appearing and on the one to her left, a knife. She leaned closer, but stopped when both the knife and cheese were fully materialized, staring at them, confused. 

"Choose." She heard the voice boom loudly, and she jumped, whipping her head from side to side to find the source of the voice, only to find nothing. She looked back towards the pedestals but didn't move. 

"Choose." The voice said again, harsher this time, and Vanya took a step forward, but instead of picking an item, she spoke to the unknown voice. 

"Why?" She asked, attempting to not let her nerves shine through in her voice. Though she didn't know why, it's not like the fake person in this mind landscape would care anyways. 

"Choose." The voice replied, and Vanya sighed, and took another step forward, though not to a certain pedestal. 

"What will I be doing?" Vanya asked, knowing immediately that she would not get a helpful response. 

"Choose." Was all the voice said, and Vanya clenched her hands tightly, unwilling to make a possibly important decision. 

Thankfully, the voice didn't speak again. But with the disappearance of the voice also came the disappearance of the objects and their pedestals, and Vanya ran forward, attempting to grab the remainder of the knife and then the remainder of the cheese, only for them each to continue to disappear as they sat in her hands. 

Cursing herself for not choosing, Vanya stumbled back a few steps, keeping her eyes on as much of the room as she could, trying to not think about what she could possibly need a knife for. 

Before she could contemplate that thought much longer, a growl sounded behind her, and she turned quickly to see a dog with bared teeth sprinting at her, only fifteen meters away as it's paws pounded on the tile floor. 

Before it felt like Vanya could even think, the dog flew past her, and she flinched out of the way, but turned around to see what the dog was aiming for, to see a terrified little girl, running as fast as she could away from the dog who was nipping at her heels. 

Vanya ran forward and caught up to their slow pace very quickly, and shoved the dog out of the way of the girl, falling to, or more so through the floor. 

Falling through the floor and seemingly teleporting to be sitting on a bus was a far too disorienting thing, in Vanya's opinion. She didn't know how Five could stand to do it every day when her head had already begun to hurt from a fake teleportation, or spacial jump. 

Sitting across from her was a scarred man, a newspaper clutched tightly in his hands as he flipped through the pages swiftly and angrily before stopping on one page, staring at it for a minute before flipping it around and promptly shoving it into Vanya's face forcefully. 

"Do you know this man?" He asked, all but throwing the paper in her face before he sat down, eyeing her warily as she gazed down at the paper now in her hands. 

On the page the man in front of her had pointed out, she saw an article detailing an attempted murder, a man pictured above it with an almost bored expression and dark eyes. 

Vanya had never seen the man before in her entire life. She knew this, and yet there was a little voice in the back of her head telling her that yes, she did know the man in the picture, that yes, she had seen him before. 

She nodded slightly and handed the paper gently back to the man, who ripped it from her grasp as he glared. 

"So, you do recognize this man?" He asked harshly, shoving the newspaper in the gap between his seat and the one beside it. 

Vanya nodded. "Yes sir, I recognize the man." She said plainly, and he stood, presumably to yell, but before he could even open his mouth, Vanya blinked, and she was back in the room lined with mirrors. 

She sat up in her chair quickly, shaking her head to orientate herself, before turning to her test administrator, Matthew, who was staring at his computer, mouth wide open in surprise. 

Vanya stood from her seat, making no noise as she walked over to him. She tapped his shoulder lightly to grab his attention, only for him to flinch, startling out of his seat and turning to face her. 

"Sorry." She mumbled under her breath. "What was my result?" She asked, and he smiled sadly, a look of pity in his eyes. 

"Abnegation and Candor. You're Divergent." He said, and Vanya took a step back. 

"No, but that's impossible… right?" She questioned, and he shook his head before responding. 

"Not impossible. Just rare. Very, very rare." He paused before continuing. "You need to go ahead and leave, I will manually enter in your result as Abnegation, now go ahead and go." He gestured hurriedly towards the door, and Vanya nodded and walked quickly towards it, leaving the room lined with mirrors behind. 

Walking into the hallway, Vanya immediately turned toward where she knew the door was, her head turned towards the ground as she walked as fast as she could without seeming suspicious. 

"Vanya!" She heard a shaky voice call out to her before she could turn the corner, and she tensed before turning around, immediately relaxing when she saw it was Allison. 

Allison walked forward quickly to catch up to Vanya as she waited, tapping her fingers against her leg anxiously as she glanced all around the room. 

"Hey sis." Allison said, a shaky smile on her face that Vanya decidedly didn't point out as she gave her own shaky smile in return. 

After only a moment of silence, Vanya tilted her head towards the door as she looked at Allison. She nodded without a word, and they swiftly made their exit. 

As they took the long walk to the academy, comfortable conversation fell between the two. Not talking about anything in particular or of importance, just casual conversation like the two hadn't had since they were kids as they walked. 

But the silence was pressing as the large house came into sight, both of them stepping quietly into their own rooms and both dreading tonight and looking forward to the day after, not knowing if they wanted time to speed up or slow down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aptitude tests are (finally) done! Next is the choosing ceremony 👀


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The choosing ceremony is finally here!! Time to see what these idiots are gonna do!! 
> 
> Also I don't really know how to put a warning for this?? But this chapter does have some self-harm kind of. I'll just have to explain it I guess? To choose the faction, the person has to cut the palm of their hand with a ceremonial knife and drip their blood into a certain bowl. Just a warning for that this chapter. Be safe while reading please 💜

Waiting for dinner that night took far longer than what any of the siblings had expected. Rather than time speeding up, it seemed to almost slow down as the time for dinner slowly approached, every footstep heard outside of their rooms making each of them flinch. 

When the clocks in their rooms all finally ticked to six o'clock, they all silently groaned from their places on their beds when they heard their nanny ringing the high pitched bell in the hallway connecting their rooms. 

"Time for dinner." She called out, voice shrill as she swung the bell back and forth, pausing for a response before continuing when none of them came out. 

"Come along now children, you wouldn't want to keep your father waiting." She called out again, and all of them simultaneously seemed to agree as they walked out of their rooms, walking slowly and silently towards the dining hall as their nanny trailed behind them. 

When they arrived, each of them stood behind their designated seat, spaghetti steaming on all eight plates on the table, waiting in anticipation for their father to come into the room. 

He walked in only after a few moments, standing behind his own chair at the head of the table as he glanced around at the seven siblings, none of which would meet his eyes. They never did. 

"Sit." He said quickly, and they all flinched, jumping to sit in their chairs as he sat in his. He took a few bites of the spaghetti, looking around at all of the children as they stared at their plates and picked at their food, appetites nowhere in sight. 

"I was told," Reginald started, setting his utensils next to his plate. "That all of you left your tests without being dismissed." He leaned forward in his seat slightly. "Why is that?" 

The siblings glanced at each other nervously, none of the mustering up the courage to speak up. 

"Well?" He asked, resting his hands on the table as he eyed each of them in turn. 

Vanya scooted her chair forward, and the legs scraped against the floor loudly. She felt all eyes turn on her as she paused, looking up from her plate but not quite meeting anyone's eyes. 

"I got sick, so my test administrator sent me home. I'm sure that's what happened to the others too." She said quietly, linking her shaking hands together to steady them as the others stared at her before nodding. 

"That is… acceptable. You will no longer leave without being dismissed, in any circumstance. Clear?" They all nodded their heads and continued scraping at their plates, appetites nonexistent as they sat, both nerves and excitement present in the room. 

He picked his utensils up again before speaking. "What were your results?" He asked, and all eyes turned to him as their nanny, rightfully so, fled the room. 

When no one responded, he spoke again, slower than before. "What were your results?" No one spoke. "Number One. What was your result?" He turned his attention towards Luther, who squirmed in his seat uncomfortably. 

"Erudite." He eventually answered, sealing his lips into a tight line as his father stared at him. 

"Good." He said, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "You should have no doubts about choosing Erudite then." His gaze turned steely as he turned to Diego, who flinched slightly when he spoke. 

"Number Two. Your results?" Diego shifted in his seat, thinking, before lifting his head and replying. 

"Dauntless." He said confidently, but leaned back a bit at Reginalds scowl. 

"Of course it was." His gaze turned harsh. "This will not influence your decision in any way." Diego shook his head and looked back down to his plate. 

"Number Three." He said quickly, turning his head to face Allison, who shrunk back as he raised his eyebrows. 

"Erudite." She said quietly, and he nodded in response before turning his head once again to face Klaus. 

"Number Four." He said, an almost bored tone to his voice. "Your result?" 

"… Erudite." He said, after hesitating for only a second. Reginald looked at him, disbelieving, but decided not to say anything, instead turning to Five without a word. 

"Erudite." He said, as confident as Diego was, and Reginald gave him a quick nod before turning to Ben, who flinched away from him, receiving a glare in return. 

"Number Six." He said when Ben had not yet spoken. "Your result, now." 

"Erudite" He spoke quickly, head turned down toward his plate as he twirled the spaghetti around his fork while Reginald nodded, turning to Vanya. 

"Erudite…" She lied, staring down at the table as her father gazed at her, eyes burning into the back of her skull before they returned to his own plate. 

The siblings sighed in relief when he began eating his own food, only glancing at them every so often as he ate his food as they picked at their own in nervous excitement. 

When Reginald finished his dinner, and eventually realized the siblings were getting nowhere with theirs, he stood from his seat and looked between each of them. 

"You will choose Erudite tomorrow." They all nodded quickly in response. "Dismissed." He turned and walked away, but none of them left their seats until they watched him disappear into another room. 

When they went to their separate rooms, each of them waited in anticipation for the next morning. The morning when they would finally have the chance to escape their father. To escape their old lives. 

~^~ 

The next morning at breakfast, it was obvious that none of the siblings had slept. Some choosing to sneak into someone else's room to talk, but most of them just unable to shut their eyes. 

Breakfast was silent, unlike the past few meals. The only sounds were feet tapping against the floor and the scrape of spoons against full bowls of cereal. 

They were easily dismissed when Reginald finished eating, telling them to all prepare for the choosing ceremony before disappearing into his office.

As they trailed off to their separate rooms once again to prepare for the event only an hour later, an almost sad tone fell over the house. Most, if not all of them, knowing that this would be the last time most of them would see each other. Would be the last time they all were in the same house. 

The hour seemed to take decades to pass as they all stayed in their own rooms, the excitement that they felt from the night before almost completely dissipated by the time Reginald collected each of them, leading them to the Hub, where the Choosing Ceremony would take place. 

The Hub was a large one-room building where all events that involve the five factions take place. Namely, the choosing ceremony. The only people present at the ceremony would be the ones choosing their faction, their parents, and the faction leaders. 

The seats surrounding the large stage in the middle were split into five sections, each faction filling the seats in their specific section. 

Within each faction, the people choosing would be sat alphabetically by last name, and would be called up to the stage in the middle in order to choose their faction. 

On the stage, there were five large bowls, each labeled with the faction symbols and filled with different things. The Erudite bowl was filled with water, the Candor bowl filled with glass, the Abnegation bowl filled with grey stones, the Dauntless bowl filled with hot coals, and the Amity bowl filled with soil. 

Each person would be called up one by one to the stage. To choose their faction, they would be handed a ceremonial knife to slit the palm of their hand, letting their blood drip into the bowl of the faction of their choice. 

The Hargreeves filed into their place with the Erudite faction, attempting to ignore the eyes on them as they sat and watched as their father left to go stand near the stage with the other faction leaders. 

There was a nervous tension in the room as people chatted quietly around them, but they stayed silent as they gazed around the room, periodically locking eyes with each other to communicate without words. 

When The Handler, Candor faction leader and host of this year's Choosing Ceremony stepped up on the stage to speak, the room grew eerily silent, no sound but the tapping of her heels against the wooden floor of the stage. 

"The five factions were created to keep peace, after the war." Her voice rang out loudly as she stepped behind the bowls. "Splitting us into factions, splitting us into different places of work, keeps the balance."

"The faction you choose will guide you the rest of your life. This is an important step of integrating into our society."

"While your aptitude result shows the faction you belong in, you are still free to choose. Your journey as initiates will differ depending on the faction you choose, so choose wisely." She raised an eyebrow. "And remember, faction before blood." 

"Faction before blood." The audience repeated back almost robotically, and she began to call out names in alphabetical order, each person coming up and choosing their faction, going to sit with the faction that they chose and leaving with that faction afterwards. Leaving their old one behind. 

The names droned on and on, before she finally got to Erudite, where the names seemed to take even longer, until- 

"Allison Hargreeves." She called out, and each of them tensed in their seats, eyes traveling towards her as she shakily stood and walked up towards the stage. 

She grabbed the knife that was handed to her with shaky hands, clutching the sharp object tightly as she stood in front of the bowls. She could feel all eyes on her as she took the blade in her right hand and slowly slit the palm of her left, placing the knife on the tray that was held out to her before turning back to the bowls. 

She glanced quickly between the now red water of the Erudite bowl, the darkened soil of the Amity bowl, and the spotted red glass of the Candor bowl. She stepped forward towards the glass, and glanced at her father, who stood off to the side of the stage, staring at her with steely eyes. 

For what could've been the first time in her life, she looked him straight in the eye. She locked eyes with him as she turned her hand to the side, letting the blood drip into the glass, a smug look on her face as The Handler called out Candor. 

She looked at him one more time before turning her back, accepting the bandage being handed to her as she threw one last glance at her siblings, sad looks on each of their faces as she walked towards the Candor section while they clapped and the Erudite section spoke quietly beside them, a few glares being thrown her way. 

It wasn't long after she left the stage when The Handler called out another name as she squinted at the card in her hands. 

"Benjamin Hargreeves." She said, and he sighed, looking at the remainder of his siblings in turn, a sad smile on his face, before standing and walking towards the stage, accepting the knife handed to him with steady hands. 

He avoided his father's eyes as he slit the palm of his right hand quickly, immediately dripping blood into the Amity bowl with seemingly no hesitation. 

He continued to avoid the eyes of Reginald and now his siblings as The Handler called out Amity and he plastered the bandage on his hand, ignoring the scowls of the Erudite faction across the room and smiling nervously at the sight of Amity's grin as he sat with them. 

"Diego Hargreeves." The Handler called out, and he stood quickly and without a glance to his siblings he walked down the large aisle towards the stage, walking swiftly up the stairs and taking the knife, clutching it to his chest to hide the tremor in his hands. 

He took the knife and made a clean slit on his left palm, standing obviously in front of the Dauntless bowl, turning his hand to drip the blood onto the hot coals, watching it sizzle as the large crowd of Dauntless cheered as the faction name was called out. 

He quickly taped the bandage to his hand and jumped off of the stage, quickly walking towards the Dauntless faction as they cheered loudly, sitting down at the front of the seats with the other initiates as another name was called out. 

"Fi-" The Handler brought the card closer to her face. "Five? Five Hargreeves." 

He sighed from his seat and stood, throwing a quick glance to Vanya before moving quickly from his seat to the stage, grabbing the knife from The Handler and moving to the space between the Erudite and Candor bowls. 

He glanced between the two of them before taking the knife and quickly slicing into his palm, letting the blood drip into the red water. 

He looked to Reginald as The Handler called out Erudite and he patched his hand up, scowling at the nod that he was given. He moved to sit with the initiates for Erudite, as far away from his Father as he could possibly get. 

"Klaus Hargreeves." Klaus froze in his seat momentarily before standing up, his movements jerky as he walked to the stage. 

He grabbed the knife quickly with shaking hands, moving to stand in front of the bowls. He looked between all of them, thinking, before turning his head slightly to the side to meet Ben's eyes. Klaus nodded to both himself and Ben, and stepped forward. 

He took the knife and slit his left palm, holding his hand over the Amity bowl and letting a drop of blood fall in, making the soil even darker than it had been before. 

He took a small step back and glanced quickly at Reginald, who looked disappointed, as usual. He patched up his hand quickly and walked forward to sit with Ben as The Handler called out Amity, feeling much more sure of his decision as he sat with his brother once again. 

"Luther Hargreeves." She said, looking in disbelief at the paper in her hands as he walked up to the stage and accepted the knife handed to him with steady hands. 

He stood confidently in front of the Erudite bowl, slitting the skin on his left palm and swiftly holding it over the water, watching as it splashed into the water as Erudite was called out. 

Though he wonders if he made the right decision as he goes to stand next to his father, the eyes of his siblings on him. 

"Vanya Hargreeves." The Handler sighed as she looked up from the cards in her hands. 

Vanya walked down the aisle quickly, but when she reached the stairs she slowed her pace, grasping the knife shakily in her hand as she came to stand in front of the bowls. 

She glanced once between the Candor and Abnegation bowls, before coming to stand in front of the Abnegation one, cutting into her left palm quickly and letting the blood drop onto the stones as the faction name was called out. She walked to sit with her new faction without even a glance towards her father. 

The names continued to drone on and on until all the seats were empty and the bowls were filled with red. They all filed out with their own factions, throwing last sad glances towards their siblings and glares to Reginald. Never to interact as a whole family again. Or so they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh is that what you expected 👀👀👀


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luther getting 'comfortable' in the erudite faction. Except, he's still stuck with Reggie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for people being experimented on and needles! Stay safe while reading please!!

Walking back to the academy with Reginald, being the only sibling to return, was hard. It was hard knowing that he would never leave the large house ever again. It was hard knowing that his siblings were out living their lives and he was still here, stuck in the past. 

But he had made the right decision, or that was what Luther kept telling himself as he trailed behind his father, ignoring the strange looks he was given by the other initiates. Ignoring the glare he was given by Five as he walked away with them. 

He didn't know how his father would get away with it, this time. Luther was an initiate this year, after all. Getting him out of initiate training didn't seem possible to him, but his father had gotten them all out of school for eighteen years, so maybe this wasn't that much of a stretch. 

The walk to the academy seemed to take centuries. Reginald looming over his shoulder with a glare as they walked, doing nothing to help speed up the time. 

When they finally arrived, eight plates of dinner were already cooked and on the table. Luther went to stand behind his designated chair as he waited for his father to return from his office. He looked around numbly at the empty spots behind chairs and full plates before crossing his arms and looking down at his own plate, leaning against his chair as he continued to wait. 

When Reginald finally walked in minutes later, he stood behind his own chair, looking at each of the individual empty seats and full plates with a scowl, before his eyes finally landed on Luther. His gaze turned steely as Luther ducked his head to avoid his father's gaze. 

"Sit." His voice rang out loudly, and their chairs scraped loudly against the wooden floor as they were simultaneously pulled out from their spots under the table. 

Dinner was silent. Dinner was always silent, but it felt worse than ever that night. Instead of eight scraping forks against plates, there were only two. Instead of the sound of Klaus' plastic bag crinkling in his coat pocket, and the sound of Diego and Ben's quiet huffs of laughter, there was only silence. There was no sound of Vanya and Five kicking each other under the table, no sound of Allison humming lowly under her breath, there was only Luther's quiet breathing as he ate quickly, hoping to be able to escape this dinner without a word from Reginald. Though he knew that that wouldn't be the case. 

Just as Luther went to set his utensils down onto the table, Reginald spoke, resting his own hands on the table. 

"Number One, as you can tell, things will be a bit different around here now." He waited for Luther's nod before continuing. "Daily training will continue. Scheduled meals will continue. The same rules as before apply, do you understand me?" Luther nodded again, and Reginald nodded in return. "Dismissed." 

Luther got up quickly from his chair and walked as fast as he could without running to his room, collapsing onto the bed with a groan as he ran his hand over his face. 

He fell asleep like that, to the sound of his own breathing. He never thought he would miss Diego's snores, or the whimpering coming from several of the rooms due to nightmares, or the whispering of his siblings when they went to see each other in the night, but he did. He missed it, he missed them. 

~^~ 

When he woke up in the morning, he had almost forgotten what had happened the night before. Almost. 

Waking up was surprisingly normal. It was exactly eight in the morning when he heard his nanny ringing the bell outside of his room. The only difference was that she was saying his name instead of 'children.'

"Luther, it's breakfast time. You don't want to be late for training today." He sighed before getting out of the bed and walking quickly out his bedroom door, walking past his nanny and almost stomping to the dining room, sitting in his chair and glancing at all of the empty ones before shaking his head and turning to his food. 

He ate quickly as he attempted to avoid his thoughts. His thoughts wondering what his siblings were doing right now. His thoughts wondering if they were succeeding as initiates. His thoughts wondering if they were happy. Happier than him. 

When he finished eating, he quickly got up from the table and walked down into the basement for training. 

When he saw Reginald standing behind a glass wall at the end of the training room, that's when he knew something was definitely different. 

"Number One." His father called out, and Luther stepped closer. "I am going to give you a brief explanation of how training will go on from now." 

Luther nodded as he shifted in place uncomfortably, glancing nervously around the room. 

"There will continue to be individual training, but group training has been eliminated from your schedule." Reginald spoke quickly as he watched Luther nod once again. 

"Instead, your group training will be replaced with… experimental training." Luther's stomach dropped. Before he could open his mouth to speak or even think, Reginald spoke again. 

"Your educational studies are finished. That time is being replaced with more individual training. Everything else will remain the same. Do you understand?" He asked the question harshly, giving Luther a steely glare, almost as if he was daring him to speak up, daring him to speak against his father. 

"I understand." Luther replied. He walked to the track, numb, as he waited for his father to join him and time how fast he could run. Not that it mattered. There was no one to compare his time to, anyways. 

~^~ 

Individual training was like always. Timed runs, strenuous workouts, testing the limits of his strength over and over again. The only difference this time was that there was more of it. A lot more. 

When his siblings were around, only days ago yet it felt like years, they had individual training on their specific day of the week every morning. If it was not their day of the week, they would do educational studies. The other half of the morning, the afternoon, and part of the evening was spent doing group training. Sparring matches, races, working together to defeat the 'enemy,' which was just the mannequins that their father had set up. After dinner was always more educational studies, and then sleep. 

Though some days it did change, that had always been Luther and his siblings' schedule. It had sucked, of course, but they all had been there together. Now, he was alone. 

Either way, now that his studies were complete, all he did was training. All day, every day. 

Individual training left him sore for hours, sure. But experimental training… 

Experimental training was pure torture. Being poked and prodded at for half of every day would never be Luther's idea of a good time, but then again he never thought that he would have to entertain the idea of doing so in his head. 

He would be stuck with needles, filled with liquid he knew nothing about. He would be cut into, torn and scratched at.

He didn't know why, he was never told the reason and he never asked for one. He just continued on, going to bed sore from training and, some days, in severe pain. 

This continued on for two weeks. Two weeks of loneliness. Two weeks of silence. Two weeks of seemingly endless physical training, not that it was put to any good use. Two weeks of experimental training. Experimental training that got worse and worse as time went on. 

At first, it seemed almost easy. He would be stuck with needles, injected with an unknown liquid, but everything would be fine afterwards. 

After that first week, though, things began to get worse and worse. The things injected into him would change him. He would begin to grow hair on his nose, his nails would fall off, his foot would be paralyzed for a few days. 

Even though all of these weren't great, none of them were permanent. His nails grew back, the hair he shaved off wouldn't grow back, and he regained feeling in his foot after a few days. What really bothered him was the pain. 

Some days, it would feel like nothing. He would feel the prick of a needle and wince, but nothing after that. Some days, the spot would be sore, but that was the same as most shots, so no need for concern, according to Luther. But some days… 

Some days the fluid shot into his body would feel like liquid fire, like lava going into him and spreading from the veins in his arms straight to his heart. 

Some days he wouldn't be able to move from his place on the cold metal table, his father scoffing at him every time he walked past. 

Yes, the results of the serums that he had had before weren't permanent. The ones that he had had before. Before experimental training stopped three and a half weeks in. Before he had changed beyond repair. 

The day had started out like any other, a lonely breakfast with Luther still sitting at his designated seat. Not that it mattered, no one else was there to fill up the other seats anyways. 

After he ate quickly, he rushed downstairs to the training room, wincing as his muscles pulled, sore from the days before.

He walked into the room, shutting the heavy metal door behind him, and turned to face Reginald with a repressed sigh. He gestured towards the track at the center of the room, and Luther jogged towards it quickly, getting in place for his daily timed run. 

After that, training went on for two more hours, as usual. He lifted some cars, threw them around a little. Had a car thrown onto him. 'Seeing how much he could take,' as his father had said. None of these were new, they had been a part of his training since he had been a child. 

When morning training was finally over, Reginald walked up to him to speak. 

"Experimental training starts in thirty minutes." He said, as he did every day. "I expect you to eat during that time." 

Luther nodded in response. "I understand." 

He waited patiently, head tilted towards the ground, for Reginald to move from his spot in front of him. Once he walked through the door to get into his office, the door slamming shut behind him, Luther moved quickly up the stairs towards the kitchen. 

He ate quickly as he mentally prepared himself for what was to come the next two hours. He could only hope that whatever was injected into him this time wouldn't leave him on the cold metal table for days. Wouldn't leave his father with a look of distaste in his eyes for even longer. 

When he finished eating, he ran back downstairs and through the training room, arriving at the small door that led to where his experimental training had been taking place. 

When he walked inside, he sighed at the sight of the metal table, syringes filled with unknown liquids on a stand beside it. He surveyed the room quickly, and grabbed his outfit for training off of the hook beside the door, changing into it quickly as he waited for Reginald. 

When he walked in, he gestured harshly to the table, and Luther nodded quickly, moving silently to lie face-up on the cold surface as he tapped his fingers against it nervously. 

He watched from the corner of his eye as his father set to work, filling syringes with the bottles of serums, the effects they would have unknown to Luther. 

He spun around quickly, needle in hand, and stepped closer to Luther, nodding towards the zipper on his jacket. He immediately moved his hand to pull the zipper down, exposing his chest. 

It took no hesitation for Reginald to plunge the needle into what felt like Luther's heart, pressing down on the plunger slowly as Luther grunted, gripping the sides of the table tightly as his body was put to the test. 

When the needle was finally pulled out of him, he noticed black dots begin to appear in his vision. He attempted to tell his father, but before he could, his vision completely faded away and he was left unconscious. The last sight he saw before his vision went black was his father's scowl. 

~^~

When Luther woke up, his heart hurt, and he was itchy everywhere. 

The second he regained consciousness, he shot up from his spot on the table, whipping his head wildly around the room only to find it empty. 

He brought his hands up to rub at his face, but paused at the feeling of the thick mass of hair that had grown on his face seemingly overnight. He moved his hands to his hair, only to find that it had grown to below his ears. 

Closing his eyes, he pulled his hands slowly away from his face, holding them out in front of him before hesitantly opening his eyes. He stared at his arms for a second, gaping at the three inch long, thick hair covering every spot of them. He threw the blanket off of his legs, and stared for only a second more before he began to scream. 

It was a loud, bloodcurdling scream. He pulled the blanket up to his face, holding it close as he opened his mouth wide, glancing his eyes wildly around the room to look at anything but himself as he awaited his father's return. 

He came into the room quickly, slamming the small door open with a clang as he gave Luther an incredulous look. 

"What is it Number One?" He asked, standing in the doorway as he stared at the son he had changed. 

"What happened to me?" Luther asked quietly, holding the blanket even tighter against his new chest as Reginald took a step forward. 

"It seems that the serum has worked this time. The other times they were ineffective." He said simply, turning his back to Luther to grab a new set of clothing from a hook on the wall. 

"You…" He paused, and Reginald turned to face him again, holding out a new set of larger clothes that Luther took, staring at the much larger size listed on the tag before continuing. "You've been trying to turn me into a…" 

"A monkey?" He cut off. "No. More so a being with strength, more than you had before." 

Luther moved his head slowly, tilting it upwards to stare his father in the eyes, something he's sure that he had never done before. Reginald flinched slightly, and Luther repressed a confident smile, attempting to keep his face monotone as he stared. 

"Training will continue as usual in two days' time. No more experimental training, as we have finally been successful." The room went silent as Luther continued to stare. "Do you understand, Number One?" Luther continued to stare, and Reginald gave him a sudden hard look in response, causing Luther to flinch back at the sight of his arm moving. "I said, do you understand." Luther nodded quickly in response, moving his gaze to look at the clothes sitting in his lap. Reginald nodded, and walked out of the room, the door slamming loudly behind him. 

He sighed, and stood from his spot on the table, back sore as he stared numbly at his new clothing. 

He moved slowly, putting on the large blue shirt and blue pants, pulling the large overcoat over his now equally as large shoulders. He stared at the door when he was finished, unblinking as he waited for it to open again. 

He felt numb. Concerningly numb. He was sore, his back and body felt sore from being on the hard table for however long he had been out, but it was almost as if he didn't feel it. Almost as if he wasn't there, like he had been a spectator of his own body and actions. 

What could've been minutes or hours later, his father never walked back into the room. So Luther sighed, walking up to and out the door himself, trudging to his room with heavy feet, feet much larger than they had been the week before. 

He slid into his bed, wincing at the loud creak that it gave as he pulled the blanket on top of himself, clutching it tightly to his chest as he stared at the ceiling. 

He stayed that way for three days. He didn't sleep, he didn't eat, he didn't feel anything. Reginald never came to get him, that third day, as he said that he would, so Luther didn't get up. His nanny never came, never walked down the hallway ringing the annoying bell that she has had since he was a kid. Never called for him to have another lonely breakfast. So he stayed, stayed in his room, unmoving. 

He stayed there until the sound of the large doors to the house creaking open loudly broke him from his numb haze. He stood up, alert, and ran quickly down the stairs, ignoring the way the people inside the academy flinched away from him and stared. 

"What's going on?" He asked, the deep tone to his voice surprising even himself. 

Leonard, the second faction leader of Erudite, stepped up to face him, nothing but confidence in his gaze as he stared Luther down. 

"Your father was found dead in his room this morning. Heart attack." He stated simply, and Luther stumbled back as if he had been hit. "You will be assigned a job in a few days time, your new living space has already been prepared." He nodded towards the person standing behind him, and the short blonde stepped forward, eyeing Luther hesitantly. "This is Jane, she will bring you to your new living space. I'm sure you will fit in quite nicely with the others, no initiate training required."

Jane stepped forward when he didn't move, only continued to stare at the air as Leonard walked away. She placed a small hand on his arm, and he suppressed a flinch as she brought the other one forward to lead him to his new home. He was too stunned to even look back as they walked away from the academy. 

~^~

They arrived in front of his new home quickly. He stared at the floor as they walked down the concrete path. They walked through the glass door and up the many flights of stairs until they reached the top floor. Jane led him through a door with the number 48 printed on top. 

She released his arm, and he took a step further into the room as she lingered in the doorway. 

"This is your new home." She said quietly, and he turned to face her. She cleared her throat, taking a step back at his intense stare. "I will be back in a week with your job assignment. Breakfast will be in the main hall tomorrow at eight. Rest for now." She walked out of the small apartment, shutting the door quietly behind her. 

The apartment was small. It had a small living room with a door leading to a smaller bedroom that had a door leading to an even smaller bathroom. 

He walked into the bedroom and went immediately to the dresser across from his bed. Inside were several sets of blue clothing, similar to the ones that he was wearing. He sighed and closed the drawers of the dresser quietly before throwing himself onto the bed, bouncing lightly on the soft mattress before sinking into it with a groan. 

He didn't want to think about the past week. Didn't want to think about his new body. Didn't want to think about how his father was dead. Didn't want to think about how he was stuck in Erudite, all for a man who never cared and never would care about him. He didn't want to think about it. 

He didn't want to think about it, so he shoved his face into the cold pillow, sank further into the mattress, and pushed the thoughts away from his mind. He felt numb again as he laid there. 

He didn't go to breakfast that next morning. No one came to get him. 

He didn't go to lunch that afternoon. No one came to get him. 

He didn't go to dinner that evening. A knock sounded at his door, but he didn't get up to open it, only listened as the footsteps trailed away after a beat of silence. 

Luther would stay there, lying face down on the bed, until someone came to get him, he had decided.

He just didn't think that the people who came to get him would be in black masks, breaking down his apartment door and containing him quickly, causing him to pass out before he could even open his mouth to speak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha I'm sad. 
> 
> Also, I think I'm pushing the time to update this to every two weeks rather than every week. I've not been working on this as much as I should, and school is starting up again soon so I think that pushing it to two weeks would be best. I'm sorry 😔 
> 
> I do hope you liked this chapter though and continue to keep up with this fic even if it isn't updated as frequently 🥺


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